Dust of Snow

BY ROBERT FROST

The way a crow

Shook down on me
The dust of snow
From a hemlock tree

Has given my heart

A change of mood
And saved some part
Of a day I had rued.
"Dust of Snow" analysis
The short poem, "Dust of Snow" by Robert Frost is about the great healing power
of nature and of little things or events that happen. Whether it is a sad mood of bad
health, there is almost nothing that nature cannot cure. The poet was having a very
bad day when a crow's movement near a hemlock tree dusted some snow upon him.

This poem is simple and short, yet with a deeper and larger meaning. The poet
explains how an insignificant act of snow Falling on one's body can brighten one's
day up and make one happy. Robert Frost says that there is a "always, always a
larger significance" when "a little thing touches a larger thing" i.e, when an
unimportant thing or event takes place; this event or thing can have a tremendous
effect on people.

Frost uses irony here very effectively because both the crow and the hemlock tree
are regarded as bad omens. The crow is black and this colour has very negative
connotations. The hemlock tree's produce is poisonous and can cause immediate
death.

Frost also uses contrast as a technique and this is obvious in his choice of the
crow and the snow; the black and white colours. Frost may be using this
contrasting image to suggest to the reader that life is full of pain and joy, death and
life, horrible events and great events, bad and good people. We should take
advantage of the happy times and be hopeful because life is not all bad, gloomy,
and full of burdens or obstacles. This poem gives the reader the message that one
should hope for the best even in the worst of circumstances.

"Dust of Snow" has the rhyme scheme of ABAB CDCD. The poem is quite
simple and this is why we see no common poetic devices, like simile or metaphor.
However, we find the use of Alliteration in this poem and we do findvarious
symbols like the crow, the dust [death] [i.e. from dust to dust] and the hemlock
Tree. All of these symbolize doom, death, and mishaps like horrible unlucky
accidents. The ambiguity of the poem is undeniable. The reader is left asking why
the crow and not the dove, why the dust and not the flakes, and why the hemlock
tree and not any other unharmful or beautiful tree? Is Frost really optimistic in this
poem ??
The poem "Dust of Snow'' is primarily about teaching a moral lesson; and thus, it
should be read from an ethical perspective. It should be interpreted and analyzed
from this moral ethical point of view. This poem, like Seamus Heaney’s
“Digging” , is an expression of ethics and morality. The primary function of "Dust
of Snow" and "Digging" is moral enlightenment and education. "Dust of Snow"
does make a moral ethical judgment and tells the reader that life is unpredictable
and diverse; it has its happy moments as well as its sad ones.

Although "Dust of Snow" has some postmodern features, it differs greatly from the
postmodern perspective that there is no moral responsibility, no objective reality,
no scientific or historical truth, no reason or logic. In fact, Postmodernism rejects
universal moral and spiritual values and believes that all values are relative. i.e,
there is not one value or source for values; no rather, there are numerous values and
various sources for values. In the light of all this, neither "Dust of Snow" or
"Digging" can really be seen as one hundred percent postmodern poems.

O Allah, your mercy for my father’s soul

Your safety for my mother’s soul